ADHD and Exercise

It's All in Your Head

New research on middle-school kids explores the link between riding and brainpower—and argues for adding more exercise into the lesson plans

bruce barcott

In one test, students wearing an EEG swim cap push a button when the same image flashes twice on-screen. They do this before and after a four-week riding program. (Simon Dunne)

“All right!” said Hill. “Let’s rock and roll!”

Hill took off, leading a middle-school peloton into the leafy neighborhoods of Natick. I pedaled hard to keep up.

THE RESEARCH GOING on in Natick is a rare instance of cognitive theory being tested in the real world. It’s also a pioneering effort in the cycling world.

Three years ago I wrote a story in BICYCLING about a nationally competitive junior cyclist named Adam Leibovitz. (You can read the piece from the November 2009 issue here.) Adam, then 18, had been diagnosed with ADHD in first grade. After trying the commonly prescribed stimulant Ritalin, he quit the drug in high school and switched to a steady riding regimen to control his ADHD. The article was titled “Riding Is My Ritalin,” because that’s how Leibovitz used his daily exercise dose.

One of the surprising aspects of my reporting was discovering how little research had been done on the effects of exercise on the developing brains of kids—any kids, let alone those with ADHD. Ratey, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, seemed to be a lone voice in the wilderness when he wrote his book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. “The relationship between food, physical activity, and learning is hardwired into the brain’s circuitry,” he wrote. Exercise “has a profound impact on cognitive abilities and mental health. It is simply one of the best treatments we have for most psychiatric problems.”

Despite Ratey’s work, exercise studies remained difficult to find because they were difficult to fund. The reason was simple. Exercise wasn’t a drug that pharmaceutical companies could sell.

That’s starting to change. At the Morgan Hill, California, headquarters of Specialized Bicycle Components, Leibovitz’s story caught the attention of founder Mike Sinyard. “I have ADHD, and so do a lot of people who ride for hours and hours,” he told me. “As riders, we know it has this effect on the brain. It’s not just about being physically active. There’s a Zen-like meditation to the rotation of the pedals, almost like a Buddhist chant.”

Sinyard called Ratey and asked how Specialized could contribute to the cause. Working with Simon Dunne, the company’s head of global bicycle advocacy, Ratey organized the study at the schools near Boston. “Cycling is a natural for the work we’re doing,” Ratey said. “It’s fun, it gets kids outdoors, and it gets the heart rate up.”

Aside from physical education teachers, cyclists are among Ratey’s biggest supporters. Three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond is one of Ratey’s most visible cheerleaders. LeMond has spoken in the past about his problems focusing as a kid, and how cycling helped him overcome them.

Ratey already had a husband-and-wife research team lined up. Lindsay Shaw is a sports psychologist who’s worked both with professional athletes in her private practice and with attention-challenged kids at a Toronto clinic. Alex Thornton taught middle and high school for seven years before earning a PhD in educational leadership.

Thornton had long believed teachers ought to know how the brain learns. “There’s all this research, all this information available, and nobody bothers to get it to the teachers,” he told me. Two years ago Thornton read Spark, contacted Ratey, and told him: You’ve written this book. Let’s get it out there into the classrooms. Since then he and Shaw have been in constant motion, conducting research and giving professional development seminars on the fitness-brain connection.